


Rulid Trio AU

by Storiesaremylife



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: rulid trio, self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27720845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storiesaremylife/pseuds/Storiesaremylife
Summary: Instead of Alice being taken away by the Integrity Knights, the boys save her and they continue growing up together. Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice head out on their journey to become Integrity Knights, eventually ending up in Centoria, where they meet a mysterious girl whom Kirito strangely recognizes, and land in the middle of a conspiracy.Basically an AU where Alice was never taken and Kazuto isn't logged out.
Relationships: Eugeo & Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Eugeo & Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito & Alice Zuberg | Alice Synthesis Thirty, Eugeo/Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, kazut
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was not betaed or anything so sorry for that. Hope you enjoy!

“ALICE!”  
Eugeo wasn’t sure which of them screamed her name, but the sound echoed off the walls of the cave. It added to the effect of time being slowed down. He was too shocked, too afraid, to register anything aside fromt the scene playing out in front of them.  
The three 11 year olds were an inseperable group of friends. Eugeo, along with Kirito, was a Wood Carver in the small town of Rulid where they were born and raised, taked with felling the demon tree known as the Gigas Cedar. Alice was a siter in training at the church, as well as the eldest daughter of the village elder, Gasfut Zuberg. They’d all been born in the same year, practically on the same day, and had been together pretty much ever since.  
Even after getting their Callings, the trio met up every day at lunch. Alice would bring them baskets of food, prepared by either her or her mother (though Alice claimed she made all the lunches, the boys could always tell) and they would sit and eat and talk. That was what lead to this insane scheme cooked up by Eugeo’s troublemaking friends.  
Kirito wanted to test a theory. He was tired of having to scarf down food and wanted to figure out a way to keep it cold. He’d heard there was ice up in the End Mountains, in the cave where the hero Bercouli faced down the Dragon. Alice, being both studious and adventurous, exploited every known loophole to facilitate him. And like so many times before, Eugeo was along due to curiosity and an attempt to keep his two best friends from dying. Mainly Kirito. Alice could handle herself.  
They’d achieved their goal of collecting ice. That should have been the end of it, but they got lost on their way out. Apparently they’d gone the complete wrong direction, and ended up at the border of the forbidden Dark Territory. There they’d been entranced by watching two Dragon Knights: one garbed all in black, the other in all white, as they battled high in the sky. The one in white—an Integrity Knight from the Axiom Church, Eugeo knew—prevailed, and sent the other to the ground in a broken, bloody mess.  
Somehow the knight had still been alive when he hit the ground. And he reached out his hand to the three lost children.  
Now Eugeo realized it was Kirito who screamed. Alice had started to the dying knight, but his scream brought her back to her senses. Too late. She stumbled, arm still outstretched, falling.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Both boys lunged forward, trying to grab her. Eugeo’s hand barely grazed her arm. She slipped through his fingers. She was going to fall. She was going to fall. She was going to touch the ground and there was nothing he could do because he wasn’t fast enough…  
“Gotcha.”  
Kirito had caught Alice by the wrist. He grunted as he pulled her back to her feet, his strength not quite enough to hold her steady. She stumbled and fell against his chest, sending them both to the ground. Eugeo stood gaping down at his friends as his heard threatened to pound its way out of his chest. As usual, Kirito said exactly what he was thinking: “Th-that was—way too close!”  
“A-Are you guys ok?!” Eugeo stammered. The Kirito/Alice pile shifted, and Eugeo felt a strange unpleasant emotion surge through him. He’d felt the same a few weeks ago, before his birthday, when he’d found the two of them conspiring in the woods without him. Before he could think about it too much, Alice sat up.  
“I’m fine,” she murmured. She was turned away, hiding her face, but Eugeo could have sworn she was blushing. “Thank you, Kirito.”  
Eugeo’s partner, for his part, seemed strangely at ease. Eugeo knew this was just his usual tough guy act, though. “Yeah,” he said breathlessly. “No problem.”  
Alice quietly got to her feet, brushing off her blue dress. Kirito stayed where he was on the ground. He folded his arms behind his head, earning a glare. “We need to get back to the village now.”  
“If we’d gone the way I’d suggested in the first place, we wouldn’t be here right now.”  
“Don’t bring that up again,” Eugeo groaned. Kirito sat up, flashing one of his typical mischeivous grins. Despite his fear and frustration, Eugeo grinned back. After all, they’d succeeded, and they’d done something no other kid in the village would ever dream of. Even stupid Zinc, the man at arms in training.  
If they could do this, he thought, then the three of them could do anything.

“Aaaaand… FIFTY!” Eugeo swung his axe twith a satisfying thunk. “That’s fifty for me. Your turn Kirito.” There was no answer from his partner. “Kirito? Did you fall asleep again?”  
“No,” came the familiar drawl. Kirito sat up in the grass and sighed. Eugeo found himself staring again. He’d been dong it more and more as their fifteenth summer drew closer.  
Eugeo had always known his partner’s appearance was… unorthodox. He’d heard many whispers about it. With his black hair like someone from the eastern empire, and his eyes like a starless night, Kirito was a rarity who stood out, especially in a place like Rulid. The other boy hated this fact, but Eugeo couldn’t help but be a little jealous. He was completely ordinary. His one solace was that he was taller than Kirito, but he got the feeling that would change soon. He was afraid Kirito would grow into himself and leave Eugeo behind.  
Those pitch dark eyes blinked up at him. “What? Do I have dirt on my face or something?”  
Eugeo shook his head. “Huh? No, nothing.” Kirito opened his mouth again, so Eugeo thrust the axe at him to stop the flow of questions. “Come on, let’s get this done as fast as possible, ok?”  
“As fast as possible,” Kirito repeated, that familiar far away look in his eyes. Eugeo grimaced inwardly and braced himself for what was coming next.  
Kirito stood without taking the ax and approached the tree. Eugeo opened his mouth to tell him to stop, but it was too late. The other boy had already opened the Stacia Window of the Gigas Cedar, checking its life. Old Man Garitta, the Carver before them, warned them back when they first received the Calling not to check the life very often, but Kirito rarely listened to the adults.  
The dark haired boy hummed as he considered the meager life lost, before his spine straightened in interest. “Say, Eugeo…”  
Eugeo knew that tone. He sighed heavily. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a bad idea.”  
Kirito turned to face him, an impish grin on his face. “You remember three years ago?” he continued as though Eugeo hadn’t said anything. “The cave where we found all the ice?”  
Eugeo frowned but nodded. Perhaps his friends biggest strength was also his biggest downfall: he could never turn his brain off. He was always thinking, always hatching up ways to be lazy or some crazy scheme that would likely get them in trouble. That day in the End Mountains was a perfect example. What they’d found in the cave was more than just ice. There was also the skeleton of the White Dragon, surrounded by treasure. But he knew Kirito had no interest in gold. He was pretty sure he knew which particular treasure Kirito was thinking about now.  
Seeing that they were thinking the same thing, Kirito’s grin widened. “I bet that thing can cut down the tree, no sweat.”  
“What are you crazy? You want to go back to the End Mountains after everything that happened?!”  
“Look.” The grin vanished, replaced by a rare serious look. “You still want to be an Integrity Knight, right? And Alice will be leaving for the Spellcraft Academy soon. We havt to get this cut down and move on to Zakkaria!”  
Eugeo bit his lip. Once again his partner could read him like a book. Everything he said was true. Before they’d received their Callings, the three of them had wanted nothing more than to wield swords as great knights like the hero Bercouli. That dream had never died, but it seemed further and further away with every swing of the ax.  
He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of that sword since they’d first seen it. The Blue Rose Sword, according to the fairy tale. It seemed to almost call out to him. Apparently, Kirito felt the same way.  
“Alright,” Eugeo conceded at length. “Maybe… maybe you’re right.”  
“I am right.” Kirito leaped to his feet. He took the ax and squared off against the tree. “Let’s do this quickly Eugeo!” Eugeo kindly didn’t point out that that was what he just said. 

It took them a month.  
They got up early every day of rest, and after Kirito was released from his duties at the church, they headed up to that cave. Much to their disappointment, the sword was nearly as heave as it had been when they were children. Even between the two of them, they could only drag it a few kilors at a time. They’d hide it in the forsest when they stopped, and returned the following day of rest to do the same.  
Finally, they got it back to the tree. By the time they got there it was too late to do anything, so they left it in the shed with the ax. The next day, Kirito was waiting on Eugeo, which was wildly out of character. He was practically bursting with excitement.  
“Race you to the Cedar?” He took off without waiting for a replay. Eugeo was forced to chase after him.  
“Kirito wait! If you trip at that speed you’ll lose life!”  
“C’mon Eugeo! Whoever gets there last has to buy the siral water tomorrow!”  
“…You’re on!” He picked up speed.  
In terms of strength, Eugeo beat Kirito almost every time. But Kirito made up for it by being faster and more agile. He reached the Gigas Cedar first, slapping the trunk as he doubled over to catch his breath. “Ha… heh, finally. I won!”  
“You got a head start,” Eugeo accused. “How about whoever gets the most good hits wins?”  
“Nah uh, no way. I’m taking this win.” His black eyes were bright and excited. “C’mon, let’s test the sword!”  
Eugeo frowned, chewing his lip. “About that, Kirito… It was difficult enough just getting it down the mountain. Do you really think we’ll be able to use it on the tree?”  
“Well, if we never try it definitely won’t work. And then we’ll have dragged it all the way here for nothing.” It made sense, in its way. Still… “Let’s just both give it a shot, ok? After that we can make a decision.”  
Thinking was Kirito’s biggest weakness. Kirito was his, Eugeo knew. When his partner got that excited, mischievous look on his face, no amount of arguing could sway him, and Eugeo ended up just going along with him a lot. He sighed, but smiled. “Fine. Let’s give it a try.”


	2. The End Mountains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice and Selka have a fight, leading to peril for the trio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, I lost the notebook I'd written the chapter in and wasn't able to type is up. Anyway, enjoy!

Alice Zuberg found herself daydreaming again.

She really couldn’t help it. Usually she was so studious, but lately all her thoughts and feelings were so jumbled up inside her with nowhere to go. Often these days, she found herself starying up at the sky and just… thinking. Wanting, maybe.

The past few years has been somewhat lonely. As the oldest daughter of the village elder, and a girl of nearly fifteen summers, there were certain expectations placed on her shoulders. This meant she was no longer around to run around on adventures with her friends, not was she allowed to spend time unsupervised with boys. Both of these lead to her not being close to her two best friends in years.

They were still friends: Alice, Kirito, and Eugeo. Nothing would change that. They’d made promises to each other. But the older they got, the more they were forced apart. Now the only time they could talk was a few minutes of their lunch break.

Alice saw Kirito every morning. Since his family was one of the ones effected by the sickness that had pased through last winter, he was one of many kids sheltered at the church under Sister Azalia’s watchful eye. And since Alice’s Calling was a sister in training, she helped out at the church in the mornings before studies. If she got there early enough, she would rouse Kirito and the two would make breakfast together.

Every morning now, it seemed, she would debate with herself whether or not doing so would be a good idea. Seeing him sleeping, his typically grinning face relaxed and childlike, his hair and clothes mussed from all the tossing and turning he did in his sleep… Something happened to her. Her heart fluttered and her stomach got twisted up in knots, and she blushed just thinking about it. And if their hands happened to touch when doing the dishes…

If she chose to wait until after breakfast, she would arrive at the church in time to see Kirito off to his Calling. Waiting out front would always be Eugeo. Eugeo, with his warm smile and deep green eyes, always the temperment to Kirito’s fire. He made her heart flutter too, in a different way. No less confusing, but different. Whereas Kirito was liable to whisk her off on some adventure, Eugeo would always be a stable force protecting her.

That morning, she decided to take her time and risk being late. If it meant she could forgo seeing either of them, it was worth the light scolding. She caught her younger sister—Selka, aged ten this past spring, who had only recently received the same Calling as Alice—giving her strange looks. She ignored those the entire morning.

The two girls arrived at the church in time to watch the backs of the boys heading into the forest. Their flaxen and midnight heads were bent together in some conspiracy. Alice flet that familiar pang in her heart and hurried inside.

“Are you in love with Eugeo?”

The question came from out of nowhere, and nearly caused Alice to fall flat on her face. She whirled on the asker. “ _What?!_ Why would you ask me that?”

Selka pursed her lips. Though she was barely ten, now that she had a Calling she liked to think herself mature. “You act weird whenever he’s around. _Do_ you like him?”

“N-no! Of course not!”

“Ok. What about Kirito?”

“I… what brought these questions on anyway? Do I really behave that strangely around them?” she supposed she had started acting different towards her two best friends. Not just because they were boys and she was a girl, but because of what had happened in the End Mountains—

“What happened in the End Mountains?!” Alice was horrified to realize she had spoken aloud. Now her sister was staring up at her with wide eyes, excited and curious, and Alice’s face was going red. “Did they save your life or something? Did you see a dragon? Or goblins?!”

“Th-that’s none of your concern.” Alice put a haughty tone to her voice. “Gosh, f you want to know so bad, why don’t you just ask Kirito or Eugeo?”

“Maybe I will!”

“Fine then! Take them their lunch while you’re at it, since you’re all grown up and everything.”

Selka flushed, then snatched the picnic basket Alice had just finished preparing off the table. “Fine, I will!”

If she’d known. _Oh_ , if only she had known what would happen. What Selka would do. She never would have had such a stupid, pointless argument. Maybe if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be hunting the exact people she’d spent all day yesterday avoiding.

Kirito was the easiest to locate. He was outside the church at the well, splashing the cold water on his face in an attempt to rid himself of the last remnants of sleep. In her panic, Alice forewent all formality. She threw herelf directly into his arms. The boy let out an indignant squawk, flailing about a bit before those arms wrapped tightly around her, as she’d known they would. “A-Alice?! What—“

“Selka,” she sobbed. “Selka is missing. W-we got into a f-fight, a-and now I c-ca-can’t find her! I’m so worried, Kirito!”

She felt the awkwardness fade out of him. His spine straightened and his body went stiff all over, his arms tightening slightly. “It’s alright. Do you know where she might have gone? What was your fight about?”

Alilce was glad he hadn’t let go of her yet. If he had, he might have seen her blush, and that would have just made things even worse. “It… it was just a fight, like sisters have sometimes. You’ve seen Eugeo’s sisters fight. It was nothing. It was—Ah!”

Now Kirito pulled away, black eyes intent as he stared down at Alice. Had he always been that tall? Wait, no. He must have sensed she’d realized something. “What is it?” He urged.

“Get Eugeo,” was all Alice said. “Hurry! I think Selka went to the End Mountains!”

Those dark eyes widened. “That’s why…” Not finishing his sentence, he nodded and ran off to find his partner. When the boys came back, it was clear Kirito filled Eugeo in, as no words were said between the three of them. Eugeo simply nodded to Alice and said “Let’s go!’

The trio raced together towards the mountains. They couldn’t run full speed, lest they lose too much life and be forced to take a rest, but in their panic they _had_ to be faster than the ten year old.

They stopped at the entrance to the cave. Alice knew the memories were watching over all of them, making them balk. Unsurprisingly, Kirito was the first to move. He turned to her and held out something in his hand. “Give us some light, Sister Alice?”

An old nickname she’d always hated. He grinned as she snatched the stalk out of his hand. “System Call. Generate luminous element. Adhere to object.”

“Kirito?” Eugeo was staring at his partner in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Kirito had gone pale. He was staring at the glowing cattail in Alice’s hand, but at the same time he seemed far away. He didn’t seem to hear Eugeo at all. After a moment of this she snapped her fingers in his face. “Kirito! Snap out of it!”

“Wha—“

“Alice!!” Eugeo admonished. “You shouldn’t—“

“It’s fine.” Kirito took the stalk from Alice and started into the cave. “We have to save Selka right? Let’s go.”

System call. System. Object.

Kirito grew up hearing those words. They were the Sacred Tongue, nonsense words to call on the Sacred Arts. So why? Why were they giving him such a headache? Why did he feel so uneasy hearing those words?

Now was not a good time to be thinking about this. They were almost to the dragon’s cave and had seen no sign of Selka. Yesterday, when they were trying and failing to cut down the Gigas Cedar with the Blue Rose Sword, the little girl had come to bring them their lunch. He’d suspected something was up, especially seeing how crestfallen Eugeo had been when it wasn’t Alice. He didn’t know the sisters had fought; he’d assumed that he’d done something to offend Alice without realizing it and had been planning on asking her about it as soon as he got the chance. So when she’d flung herself at him that morning, he was confused. And when she’d mentioned Selka, he’d remembered the girl asking about the End Mountains the day before.

Kirito had been lagging behind, lost in thought. When he looked up, he was shocked to see Alice not far ahead of him. She had her hands clasped in front of her, almost like she was praying. He quickened his pace to walk next to her.

“Take a breath.”

“What was that?”

“You’re freaking yourself out. Take a breath and calm down.”

She sighed. “You don’t get it Kirito. It’s my fault she ran off. If anything happens to her—“

“It won’t,” he promised. “I mean, we’ve come this far and haven’t seen her. Maybe she didn’t even come to the End Mountains at all. Maybe she just—“

He was cut off by a scream from up ahead. If the situation weren’t so dire, he might have laughed. _Never can catch a break, huh?_


End file.
